Author Topic: Hail, Caesar!  (Read 11095 times)

IReilly2U

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Hail, Caesar!
« on: February 25, 2016, 10:52:31 AM »
So I've gone from hate to love on this movie since its release. But, for whatever reason, it's stuck in my craw, and I probably(?) spent waaaayyy too much time with it, saw it multiple times in the theater and have now accumulated a bunch of observations on what I've found so far. For me, this movie is just exploding with really wonderful ideas, explored in just such an open and broad, considerate, humorous way that I seemed to have no choice but to start writing it all down.

I'm just getting started (see link below), but am really interested to get other people's takes on it.

http://mr-persnickety.blogspot.com/

oldkid

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2016, 11:56:47 PM »
Great analysis.  I think there's a lot of content in this film, but in the end it leaves me with more questions than answers.  Which is what the Coens, when they are on their game, do best.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

IReilly2U

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2016, 07:09:33 AM »
Quote
it leaves me with more questions than answers

I'm finding that this feeling you're describing is exactly what they are after with this movie.

This search for answers is what we are all after in our lives out here in the real world, and we look to these different institutions to find answers describing how we should be: Hollywood, religion, communism, capitalism. We get excited about the ideas on offer from each of these institutions, expecting that they can bring on some new change or improvement in our condition. So, we dive in and commit to the ideas and, while it seems like something is changing, we can see only a faint relationship between what we are doing and the effect it is having. The effect is never what we intend, and it's never quite clear that, really, any of it is bringing about the great achievement we hoped for.

So, here we are looking at Hail, Caesar! wondering what it's telling us, trying to find a prescription from it, as to how it's recommending we should be, and what we find in the movie is a host of characters each on a search for the same kinds of answers, grappling with the same kinds of recommendations from the same kinds of institutions, getting excited about one idea or another, and on and on it goes, and has ever been throughout history.

This searching process is reflected in every aspect of the narrative in the movie, including the sense that, really, not much is actually changing.

For me, this is an astonishing accomplishment to have conveyed in under two hours' running time. The process of seeing this narrative, of finding it in the movie, is one of the great joys it offers. I'm still finding all kinds of loops and rhymes and jokes and associations even just thinking about it, three weeks later!
« Last Edit: February 26, 2016, 07:57:54 AM by IReilly2U »

IReilly2U

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2016, 01:41:37 PM »
Some more detailed thoughts on the big picture of how I think the Hail, Caesar! narrative is working. It's nothing like anything else I've ever seen.

Can anybody think of other movies doing something similar?

http://bit.ly/1QdIh1I

oldkid

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2016, 02:04:35 PM »
I wouldn't think so much about a Christ figure in the film, although Clooney might be the best option there.   I think the crucifix and the religious imagery is speaking of God's revelation, but, as in A Serious Man, it is a muddled mess, impossible to get a clear message. 

Since you posted two blog posts, I'll post the blog where I've begun to ask questions of the film.

http://bloggingmoviesrus.blogspot.com/2016/02/is-hail-caesar-worth-suffering.html
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

IReilly2U

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2016, 04:43:48 PM »
@oldkid: that is a really nice reflection on the value of movies, and its relation to Hail, Caesar!. Thank you so much for sharing it!

IReilly2U

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #6 on: February 29, 2016, 07:02:31 AM »
Anyone have a sequence or scene that still isn't working or making sense for them? I got sucked into this trying to understand the editing scene and the amount of time given to the movie-in-movie productions, but have since worked through all those. The last bit to work out, for me, was the montage during Hobie's "rescue" of Baird at the house in Malibu.

Sandy

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #7 on: February 29, 2016, 05:39:03 PM »
Welcome, IReilly2U!

I'm avoiding reading in this thread until I get a chance to see the movie, but wanted to still say hi. :)

IReilly2U

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #8 on: February 29, 2016, 09:00:49 PM »
Thanks - look forward to hearing your thoughts once you've been able to see it!

IReilly2U

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Re: Hail, Caesar!
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2016, 07:00:29 AM »